


How You Tell the Story

by halcyon_autumn



Category: Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: Blood, Canon Typical Violence, F/M, thoughts on storytelling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-12
Updated: 2015-03-12
Packaged: 2018-03-17 11:16:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 389
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3527243
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/halcyon_autumn/pseuds/halcyon_autumn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When your world falls to pieces, how do you tell the story of the Hero of Ferelden, Hero of the Fifth Blight, a Mage with a smart mouth and holes in her socks?</p>
            </blockquote>





	How You Tell the Story

How do you tell the story of a group who saved the world?

Do you tell of heroics? Of three humans and a dog staring down bandits on a bridge, surrounded by the corpses of those who came before? Do you tell of the deep roads, the low moan of darkspawn and perpetual threat of darkness that appeared with every flicker of a torch? There were cults, blood stained hands wielding swords and screaming mouths, and assassins crouched behind boulders. You repeat Alistair’s speech before the battle with the Archdemon, tell how Leliana’s arrows flew faster than humanly possible. Alistair gets an unbreakable sword, and perhaps the Warden saves them all in the ruins of a fallen city deep in the bowels of the earth.

Or do you emphasize the humanity? The way the Amell’s feet blistered on the way to Ostagar, Leliana’s humming in the twilight as they set up camp. Can you capture the specific tone Morrigan reserved for Alistair, or the way Oghren’s snoring would wake the entire camp? The dog’s favorite place to sleep was between Alistair and Amell. Can you capture the safety of sleeping beside your beloved and a mabahri war hound, the way Wynne watches her young companions with fondness and wistfulness? You can tell how the Warden and Morrigan both became shapeshifters, the way a blood soaked bear and enormous spider would send men screaming. But if you do that, you lose Amell gathering her courage and finally shyly asking Morrigan about shapeshifting, and Morrigan’s surprised agreement to teach her. The heroics of the battlefield do not allow for Amell’s victorious roar when she first became a bear, of Morrigan’s hesitant friendship with the enthusiastic girl who couldn’t figure out what “licking a lamp post in winter” meant. 

But if you tell me that Amell burned herself the first time she started a fire, or that Zevran screamed the first time Morrigan turned into a giant spider, can you still claim that they are heroes of legend? Can you see them larger than life, or are they tied down by their fears and hopes and quirks?

When the sky erupts and demons pour out, what stories will you tell of the Hero of Ferelden? The woman who actually lived, or the woman who you hope comes back to save you all?

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first piece of fanfic I've ever posted. Any thoughts are welcome!


End file.
